Eagles’ Super Bowl Win Made Possible with Help from RFID

When Philadelphia Eagles CEO and Chairman Jeffrey Lurie bought the team back in 1994 for $195 million, they had never won a Super Bowl. Lurie quickly set himself apart as a true innovator in the sport. He was one of the first team owners to get on board with an active ultra-wideband RFID stadium-wide system to gather data pertaining to players’ physical movements on the field.

In 2016, Lurie said that they would soon be “bombarded” with the RFID data, which was something he said would revolutionize the sport. Now, the Eagles are crediting RFID with helping them to win the Super Bowl in their upset victory earlier in February over the New England Patriots. It is believed that they used the technology to find the optimal rotation for their running backs and defensive ends using fatigue monitoring.

Zebra Technologies’ MotionWorks a Real Game Changer

The ultra-wideband system used by the Eagles was provided by Zebra Technologies. It entails embedded RFID tags in the shoulder pads of players, the back pockets of referees, and the tops of yardage marker chains. The receivers are placed in stadium infrastructure, such as between the lower and higher tiers of seats.

The MotionWorks sports solution from Zebra is capable of identifying the location of equipment and players within a mere six inches. It can determine how fast a player is running, the distance between players, and how long a player has been on the field.

The success of the Eagles is just one of many examples of how RFID and the data it proves can give businesses the power to reach new heights. Manufacturers can use it to optimize their supply chains; retailers can use it to optimize their product offerings, staffing, deliveries and store layouts; and logistics firms can use it to enhance their cross-docking and warehouse operations.

This blog post was based off of an article from the RFID Journal. View the originalhere.